March 3, 2005. It should have been like any other day in a small, rural community in Alberta. Winter waning, spring on its way. Kids playing hockey, school plays, the routine interactions with friends, family and neighbours.

Safe communities. This is Canada, after all. We don’t have the same kind of gun and drug problems the US has. No, no, we’re too nice for serious crime…

Right?

James Roszko had faced 44 criminal charges in his life. He was 46 years old. He was a known pedophile, possessed illegal weapons. Believed to have threatened witnesses, ten people committed perjury or failed to testify against him in court, resulting in acquittals on serious offenses.

He’d served just 32 months in prison in his lifetime, despite his history.

Despite being known to rape boys.

The incident began on March 2. Bailiffs were attempting to repossess a truck and Roszko fled in the vehicle after releasing his dogs. RCMP officers were called in to provide assistance. With a warrant for seizure in place they entered the property and discovered a chop shop and grow-op, providing them with enough evidence for a further warrant.

And they began cataloguing and removing the evidence. Roszko was now a wanted man, known to be armed and dangerous.

The farm was monitored overnight by a small group of RCMP officers. However, their numbers were insufficient to completely secure a sprawling 200 hectare farm in rural Alberta.

They were unaware that Roszko had abandoned the truck and returned to the property.

He had a semi-automatic assault rifle in his possession, along with other weapons.

Four constables, the youngest 25 years old, the oldest 32. One engaged, planning a wedding. Another with a young son, wife expecting another child.

They entered the Quonset.

Roszko opened fire, killing all four of them. Officers outside the Quonset were also shot at, and returned fire. Roszko withdrew inside the Quonset and ultimately took his own life.

I watched the movie on TV last night. For those who saw it, you saw a lot of Sandra territory. Filmed in Irricana and Cochrane, it was filmed in the community that neighbours mine, and the community where I was married. There’s something unsettling about seeing places I know well used as the backdrop for telling this story…

Something that reminds you that it could happen anywhere.

The article in The Toronto Star reminds us that the movie hasn’t tried to probe any potential failings of the RCMP or to assign responsibility for what happened.

It’s simply an accounting of the events that led up to the deaths of four young men who stood on guard for this country, for their community.

We always try to find the good in tragedy. The Marijuana Party had just backed the Liberals in an attempt to push a decriminalization bill through Parliament. The bill was shelved, the Liberals defeated and the Conservatives were opposed to decriminalization.

But I’m not quite so proud when I see news stories like these. It is a dishonour to the sacrifice of these four men, and so many others who risk their lives every day to serve and protect. We place the rights of criminals ahead of victims. We fail to give our officers the back-up and resources they need in order to give them the greatest chance of coming back from serious calls alive.

Although part of me felt uneasy about the initial plans for a TV movie about Mayerthorpe – felt it could sensationalize a tragedy in a way that rang hollow, as though it was only about ratings – I felt the movie pieced together the events and the background of Roszko in a compelling way that enabled viewers to understand what had happened.

And the ultimate senselessness of it all.

I was already writing about the RCMP before Mayerthorpe. I had actually done research with officers stationed in Bowden, where Roszko went to jail (again, not far from where I live).

One of the officers who gave me background told me they’d been on the team responding after the shooting. The words were few but the feelings ran deep.

A wound that will never truly heal.

As far as I’m concerned the RCMP and our soldiers are national heroes we take for granted. As a country, as citizens, we owe them such a debt of gratitude that can never be properly repaid, for the risks they take and the sacrifices they make. I write about the RCMP and I don’t present them as perfect, but that isn’t because I don’t respect them. It’s because I feel that so often, we fail our police by not providing them with adequate resources in order to perform their jobs safely. The result is frustration, mistakes…

The kinds of things that contributed to what happened in Mayerthorpe.

I won’t blame the RCMP for it. I will blame our government. As a society we need to say that enough is enough. It’s unacceptable for known criminals to get off on technicalities. It’s unacceptable that we can’t provide adequate protection to witnesses so that they feel safe testifying.

5 comments:

You're absolutely right, Sandra, in this country we don't give our police forces anywhere near the kind of resources they need -- and then our justice simply makes it worse.

I suppose a small part of this is the fact that we Canadians have believed our own very slanted press for a long time, liking the 'nice' and 'peaceful' image too much, in the face of all evidence to the contrary.

We shouldn't be ashamed that there are bad people among us, but we should be ashamed that we pretend there aren't.

I think things like you (and me) writing crime fiction set in Canada actually helps a tiny, tiny bit.

I agree with you John. Believing the lie, that bad things don't happen here, only adds to the problems.

Our police officers need to be protected. We need to stop being so stingy that we don't give adequate back-up. We need to have laws in place that ensure citizens are protected from criminals, not the other way around.

I'm sure you feel it, especially with RCMP officers in the family John.

New Blog Address

I'll still do teasers here for the new blog for a while until people have a chance to update their links, but commenting on this blog has been disabled.

THE FRAILTY OF FLESH

What are they saying about THE FRAILTY OF FLESH?

"Sandra Ruttan's sequel to What Burns Within... is better than the first. A four-year-old is beaten to death in a park. The child's brother, hiding in the nearby brush, claims that his older sister killed the boy. Furthermore, the sister is missing.

"Criminous kids are bad enough, but Ruttan, a disciple of the Val McDermid school, takes things a bit further. To say more is to give away a terrific plot."

- Margaret Cannon, THE GLOBE AND MAIL

"The fallout from the last time their cases intersected still haunts the three major protagonists in this stark procedural. Each is haunted by major baggage that can't help but affect current cases. The talented Ruttan turns a spotlight on the gritty reality of law enforcement for these Canadian constables, and the result is truly convoluted and disturbing."

- Romantic Times Book Reviews

"Ruttan's complex web of dialogue and narrative leads us gradually deeper into the lives of those caught up in the crime, including the detectives, creating a distinctive and potent novel...

"In the gap before the relase of further installments in the series it would be interesting to go back and reread the first two novels, to dig deeper into things only partly revealed about the three detectives and even about the cases already investigated. Ruttan's ability to pique the curiosity of the reader even about novels already read once (and even read recently) is a testament to the intricacy of her stories and the depth of her characters."

- Glenn Harper, International Noir Fiction

"Ruttan is Ian Rankin with ovaries."

- Jen Jordan, Crimespree Magazine

"The Frailty of Flesh is not only one of the best procedural thrillers I've read in a long time... but the ending knocked me right out of my seat."

- Crime Scene Scotland

"The Frailty of Flesh raises difficult questions and shuns easy answers. Sandra Ruttan writes with passion and honesty about every parent’s worst nightmare and the result is an emotionally wrenching experience."

- Sean Chercover, Shamus Award-Winning author of Big City, Bad Blood

"The complexity of the relationships among the players as well as the cases, past and present, are riveting. Whatever one might guess as to where the author is taking you, nothing can prepare the reader for the shocking resolution.

"The three protagonists are each skillfully drawn and certain to have Ms. Ruttan's readers anxious to know them better."

OUT NOW!

"Ruttan manages to keep multiple leads and seconds on the same page admirably... the straight proceduralism from Ruttan serves the story well through the rewarding climax."--Publishers Weekly

"A sizzling story by one of crime fiction's hot new voices."-- Rick Mofina, internationally best-selling author of A PERFECT GRAVE

"This story features a triple mystery and three main characters, who are interesting not only for their tangled group dynamic but also as individuals. The subject matter obviously is very grim, but the occasional banter between the constables helps to take the edge off. This is a good start to a new series I think will appeal to a variety of mystery lovers."--Fresh Fiction

"Sandra Ruttan writes with utter ferocity. Twists and turns that stun and dialog that absolutely crackles with wit and authenticity. With each page, Ruttan delivers the goods. WHAT BURNS WITHIN is a nonstop chiller of a mystery that keeps you turning the pages."-- GREGG OLSEN, New York Times Bestselling Author of A WICKED SNOW

"Promising talent Ruttan sets her gritty new detective series in Vancouver. It has a hard-edged feel and intriguing characters. ...this is a good start to an intriguing series."--Romantic Times Book Reviews

"Short and snappy chapters, terse dialogue, staccato delivery of minimalist descriptions -- Ruttan's style harks back to the classic hardboiled era....Ruttan is very much a shower rather than a teller: there are very few internal monologues to be heard in WHAT BURNS WITHIN, the subtleties of the characters' complex psychologies being drawn out through their interactions with their colleagues. That's a difficult skill to make invisible, but it's one of Ruttan's most effective weapons."--Declan Burke, Crime Always Pays

"Ruttan effortlessly brings to life a varied cast of complex characters. She writes with tremendous passion, honesty and skill. This is a story you will care about."-- Allan Guthrie, Edgar Nominated Author of KISS HER GOODBYE

"A totally mesmerizing narrative and a plot that burns off the page."-- Ken Bruen, Shamus Award-Winning Author of THE GUARDS

“WHAT BURNS WITHIN reads like a favorite television series. A large cast, lots of dialogue to advance the plot, a great setting, and well-drawn characters make for a compelling police procedural.”-- Anne Frasier, USA Today Bestselling Author of HUSH, SLEEP TIGHT & PLAY DEAD